Black-owned restaurants gain support from community in wake of troubled times

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - Across the Bay Area, hundreds of small, minority-owned businesses, already on shaky financial footing to due shelter-in-place orders, are being pushed to the brink due to recent acts of vandalism and looting. But a new movement is starting, to try and support such businesses.
 
Lunch hour at San Jose’s Jamaican eatery, “Back A Yard,” sees a steady flow of hungry customers ready for the Caribbean’s finest.
 
“I’ve been here a few times. Always liked the food,but I had to double-check on Yelp recently. And yes, it is open. Figured I’d just drop on in,” said a Santa Clara resident identified only as Andrew, as he stood in a short line.
 
It’s a welcome sight, especially for minority-owned restaurants. The industry itself has seen 30-percent of restaurants permanently shuttered due to the coronavirus crisis.
 
“Restaurants tend to be low-profit margin businesses to begin with. So on a good day, a restaurant is already operating on notoriously thin, razor-thin margins,” said Sharokina Shams, a vice president with the California Restaurant Association. 

Add the ingredient of property damage from vandalism, and the ones still standing are pushed to the brink. Experts say it’s worse for minority-owned restaurants, which have weaker financial legs with which to stand.
 
“We started at a weak place, and as we build up, any time a problem happens, our businesses drop the lowest. And then we have to build back up,” said Reginald Swilley, a principle founder of the Minority Business Consortium in Silicon Valley.
 
Minority-owned businesses are getting help with a rebound from word of mouth and social media. A new movement within the social justice movement is taking hold. As people from outside the community are specifically patronizing minority-owned businesses.
 
“Actually, people called on the phone to ask me was this a black-owned business. And I said yes it is. And they said they were coming to support us,” said Denise Alexander, a cashier who has worked for six years at Back A Yard Restuarant. Reginald Swilley added, “It’s heartening to see the white community come up and speak up on behalf of the African-American community.”
 
It’s a recipe for both healing and success that could provide the nourishment so many people now crave.